


Duckie Dilemma

by Threshie



Series: De-aged Dean [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Bathtubs, Brother Feels, De-Aged Dean Winchester, Fluff, Gen, Illustrations, Kid Dean Winchester, Rubber Ducks, Sam Winchester Takes Care of Dean Winchester, Selectively Mute Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21877768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threshie/pseuds/Threshie
Summary: Sam coaxes Dean, who is still de-aged to four years old thanks to a witch, into taking a bath and a nap. Dean gets very attached to a cute rubber duckie in the process. (Features three pieces of chibi artwork. ♥)
Relationships: Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Series: De-aged Dean [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1395748
Comments: 62
Kudos: 372





	Duckie Dilemma

“It can just sit on the counter over here, Dean,” Sam coaxed. The little boy shook his head adamantly, clinging tighter to the slice of bacon.

Dean had seemed sleepy, but he didn’t want to go to bed, so Sam had decided that maybe a bath would help. He’d made a big show of drawing the bath and putting in lots of bubbles. His currently four-year-old big brother had helped him choose just the right fluffy towel from the bunker’s selection, and he’d sweetly patted Sam’s hair and smiled at him when Sam helped him take off the tiny version of his adult clothes and wrap up in the towel. 

Now, though, Dean didn’t want to let go of the bacon slice for anything.

‘Sammy,’ Dean said silently, turning big, sad green eyes on him. 

Sam could hardly stand that stare. If only Cas was back with some actual toys, poor Dean wouldn’t have to cling to bacon as his only comfort item. No, it wasn’t fair to blame Cas — he’d only left a few minutes ago, after all, and who knew if the store had any decent toy selection, anyway?

Think, Sam told himself. This was Dean. Maybe he had some nerdy action figure in his room or something. Sam turned to start toward the door and stopped, staring. Sitting right there on the edge of the sink was a perfect, classic yellow rubber duckie.

Picking up the duckie, Sam turned and showed it to Dean.

“Look, Dean! It’s a little duck,” he said, smiling. “Don’t you want to help him swim in the water?”

Dean’s eyes lit up at the sight of the duckie. He hurried over to stand near Sam and look up at it, bacon still in hand. Sam had to play this just right so he wouldn’t clam up again.

“You want to hold him?” He offered the duckie to Dean, who started to hold up his hands. The kid remembered the bacon still in his hand when he saw it, though, and frowned. 

Sam knelt down to talk on eye level with him.

“How about this, Dean? I’ll put your bacon here on the sink where it’s safe, and you and Mr. Duckie can swim in the water.”

Dean gave the bacon a long, concerned look, then slowly offered it to Sam with a very serious expression on his face. Sam gently took the bacon, placing it with care on the edge of the sink where the duckie had been stored before. He turned to Dean and smiled again. 

“Okay, now hold out your hands!”

Dean eagerly did so, forgetting all about holding onto his towel in the process. Sam placed the duckie into his hands and picked up the towel, waving him toward the tub. 

“C’mon, I can lift you into the water. It’s fun, there are lots of bubbles!” Be happy, Sam told himself. Animals and small children responded to tone of voice.

Little Dean hurried over to the bathtub, carrying the duckie held tight in both hands. When they reached it, Sam lifted under his arms and placed the kid into the bath water, which came up to his waist. The bubbles made fluffy piles of white suds around him, and Dean looked extra tiny among them. 

“Aren’t you going to let Mr. Duckie swim now?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. Dean was still hugging the duckie to his chest. 

The kid looked up at Sam uncertainly, then down at the duck. After a moment, he offered the duckie to Sam.

‘Sammy,’ he said silently, nodding.

“You want me to do it?” Sam chuckled. At the kid’s emphatic nod, he shrugged and accepted the rubber duckie, then held it out over the water dramatically. “Time to swim, Mr. Duckie.”

It was the moment of truth. Dean watched with big green eyes as Sam placed the duckie on the surface of the water…and lifted his hand away. The rubber duck floated, of course — it bobbed on the sea of bubbles in a slow circle, until its bright smiling little face was pointed at Dean. 

Dean burst into an adorable smile of his own, like this was the best thing in the world. Sam couldn’t help smiling along with him. He took a seat on the chair he’d put beside the bathtub, and watched his brother splash and play with the duckie. 

Dean really had been sleepy before. It only took about fifteen minutes for him to run out of energy to play, and to start to yawn. Watching him playing so happily had made Sam a little misty-eyed. Dean never got to really just be a kid, not from what Sam knew. That, and he’d seemed so scared and quiet since he arrived that the smiles were a relief.

“You ready to get out of the water?” Sam asked, patting Dean’s hair as the kid yawned again. He got a sleepy nod in return, and stood to lift Dean out. Placing him on the bath mat in front of the tub, Sam wrapped the towel around him again and helped him dry off his back. Dean had splashed his hair, so Sam pulled a corner of the towel up onto his head and fluffed it dry, too. His brother looked so sweet and innocent that way — why couldn’t he just be happy like this all the time? 

“Time to drain the tub!” Sam said brightly, reaching into the water for the plug. Dean grabbed his sleeve, though, alarm written on his face. He rapidly shook his head. When Sam blinked and took his hand back out of the water, Dean sighed in relief, reaching out to pat Mr. Duckie so he bobbed on the surface. 

Oh. 

“Mr. Duckie can’t swim forever, Dean,” Sam said gently.

Dean looked SO sad at that news that he felt terrible, especially since rubber duckies would in fact float forever if left alone. But he really should drain the tub.

Stepping around behind the tub again, Sam put on a sympathetic face. 

“Dean, Mr. Duckie is sleepy now like you. He loves to swim, but it’s time for him to be cozy in his nest and go to bed.”

Dean turned big, teary green eyes on him. His bottom lip wobbled. It was tragically cute.

“If he sleeps, then tomorrow he’ll be ready to swim with you again, okay?” Sam coaxed. “He’ll be lonely in the big tub without you!”

Looking at the duckie worriedly, Dean nodded. Sam smiled and scooped Mr. Duckie from the bathtub, handing him to Dean to carry. The little boy hugged the duckie to his chest and watched wide-eyed as Sam pulled the bathtub plug. The water and suds whirled down the drain in a big whoosh that was faster than Sam expected of such an old tub. The Men of Letters built this place very solid back in the day.

The bacon was forgotten, and luckily Dean didn’t see it on the way out the door. It didn’t take long for Sam to carry Dean and the duckie to Sam’s room, Dean still wrapped up in the towel. Until the spell was reversed, Sam didn’t want to leave his brother to sleep all alone in his big room. For one thing it was scary, and for another, Dean’s room was full of dangerous un-kid-safe items like knives. 

No, it was better for everybody if Dean stayed with Sam.

Dean was so small that any shirt of Sam’s was something he would swim in. It was better than him sleeping without and being cold, though. Sam settled on a blue crewneck T-shirt, which he helped put over Dean’s head. Dean tried to shove his arms through the sleeves and got tangled up in the shirt, frowning adorably. 

“Here, Dean, let me help,” Sam chuckled, taking first one tiny hand and then the other and guiding them through the sleeves. His brother seemed almost a little sheepish about needing the help, raising a hand to run through his towel-fluffed hair. He peeked up at Sam after a moment, and those green eyes were sad. Sam wondered how alike a four-year-old Dean could be to the adult one. He knew that Dean would comfort their mom even at that age, so it was pretty easy to tell that he understood this was not how things were supposed to be. 

Sam picked Dean up and placed him in the bed, tucking the blankets in for him and fluffing his pillow. He did his best to smile, ruffling the kid’s hair. 

“We’re gonna straighten all of this out, Dean. I promise. You sleep and I’ll look up how, okay?”

Dean reached up and grabbed the hand Sam was resting on his head. Sam held his hand and squeezed it gently, looking at how tiny it was. He wondered if that was how Dean felt when looking at him as a kid once upon a time. Like he was so little, and the world was full of so many awful things. Like he had to protect him.

Holding hands seemed to be the comfort Dean needed to relax — his eyes drifted closed, and he yawned once or twice before sinking into sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my fic! I know it's been awhile since I've updated this little de-aged series, but I have at least five more ficlets plotted out and I plan to see it through to the end. Comments and kudos fuel the writing and art machine! ♥


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